MEDIA NOTEBOOK
A curation of news items about the media from this past week, with a particular emphasis on Chicago…
RADIO/PODCASTS
*Radio Hall of Fame Inductions
=This week (November 1) the latest Hall of Fame class was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago. As usual it was a star-studded event. Ryan Seacrest flew in for the ceremony to induct his pal Ellen K from KOST in Los Angeles. But for Chicago radio fans, there were a few highlights as well. Congratulations to Lon Helton. The former WMAQ man will forever have a plaque on the wall in the Radio Hall of Fame. Former Chicago radio executive Marv Dyson (WGCI) was also recognized. His son Victor and former colleague Elroy Smith accepted the award on his behalf.
The Bears Will Have a New Radio Home
=This week the Bears announced they are ending their
stay at NewsRadio WBBM and moving their games down the dial to ESPN 1000 for
2023 season. After 22 years it’s a bit of a shock, but it isn’t the first time
the Bears have changed radio homes. Their games have previously aired on WGN,
WMAQ, WIND, and WJJD.
=ESPN 1000’s Director of Content Danny Zederman
said: “ESPN Chicago is thrilled to be adding the
Chicago Bears to our play-by-play roster alongside the Chicago White Sox. Our
on-air talent is incredibly passionate about our hometown team, and that
passion will show within and beyond the in-game broadcasts, integrated
throughout our programming year-round.”
=Chicago Sun-Times sports media columnist Jeff Agrest reports that the local Bears TV deal may also be moving to a new station, and he speculates that WGN-TV and the Marquee Network are two possible landing spots.
*Ron
Gleason Retiring from NewsRadio WBBM
=The brand manager and news director announced it to
his staff this week. He had been doing that job for 17 years. In the staff
memo, he wrote: “I’ll be retiring from
full-time management at the end of January, stepping down as WBBM’s Brand Manager/News
Director. People have told me there’s something called free time out there, and
I’d like to learn more about it….Frankly,
I’m a workaholic, which is a great attribute when you’re on call 24 hours a
day. But I’m older now, my kids are grown, and Linda and I are looking forward
to spending more than just a few days a year at a home in the desert that’s
been sorely neglected. This decision comes after months of planning, with
much-appreciated support and understanding from [VP/Programming] Greg
[Solk], [SVP/Market Manager] Rachel [Williamson], and all levels of
the company.”
= Ron Gleason can be heard every weekend hosting the Bears pre- and post-game broadcasts. The timing (the end of the Bears contract and the Bears season and Gleason’s departure) is probably not entirely coincidental.
=Gleason retires after a stellar career that includes helping to launch The Score in 1991 and working as the play-by-play man for DePaul University basketball.
=By the way, Audacy is actively looking for his replacement. If you go to the Audacy career portal, here’s what it says about this position: “We are looking for an innovative strategic thinker with a passion for news and a multi-platform orientation to reimagine how we connect with and engage audiences for even greater success. The Brand Manager oversees editorial strategy and the WBBM newsroom, including broadcast and digital operations, with an eye towards audience and revenue growth and engagement on all platforms.”
*Chicago Radio Ratings
=The October PPM numbers
came out this week, and the top five stations in Chicago are as follows…WDRV
(The Drive), WLIT (Lite FM), WVAZ, WBBM (NewsRadio) and WOJO.
=Rounding out the top
ten…WXRT, WBEZ (NPR), WLS-FM, WTMX (The Mix) and WGN.
=This is the last month
of PPMs before the Lite goes all-Christmas music, which skews the ratings in
their favor every year.
*Lite-FM Goes
All-Christmas
=It began on Tuesday
November 1st, the earliest they’ve ever done it. They do it for a
very good reason, by the way. The numbers are huge and people love it.
=If you’re wondering what the research says about the most popular Christmas songs to play on the radio, you might be surprised by the results. According to P1 Media Group, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee is #1, slightly ahead of “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms.
*Chicago
Radio Archives and Memories
=The November issue of Illinois Entertainer is out and includes my interview with radio archivist Don Beno from the Facebook page Chicago Radio Archives and Memories. If you’re a Chicago radio fan, you really owe it to yourself to check out his page. Here’s a small excerpt from my interview: His page posts great old airchecks (on-air DJ tapes), photos, music surveys, and more from radio’s golden era of the 60s/70s/80s/90s. Anyone who has spent time on that page immediately recognizes the size and scope of Don’s collection. It’s way beyond anything you can imagine. “I have two thousand airchecks on tape,” he admits, “another 500 on CD, hours and hours of videotape, and four zip drives of old interviews.”
=Next
month’s interview subject for Illinois Entertainer: Bulls radio play-by-play
man Chuck Swirsky.
*Troy
Hanson re-signs with Cumulus
=The
program director of Q-101 is also the VP for programming rock formats and the
VP of operations for Cumulus Chicago. Troy Hanson has signed a new three-year
deal to stay with Cumulus in all three roles. RAMP247 has more information.
*RadioGirl
Interviews John Drummond
=Bulldog
Drummond was one of the all-time great local TV reporters in Chicago. Margaret
Larkin (aka RadioGirl) interviewed him last week. He has some great
stories.
*Len
O’Kelly’s Tour of Haunted Radio Stations and Creature Features
=If you
don’t read former Chicago radio programmer/personality Len O’Kelly’s
blog, you’re missing out. I particularly enjoyed this piece, particularly the
memories of WGN-TV’s Creature Features. Len is currently a professor at Grand
Valley State University in Grand Rapids. I previously interviewed him for Illinois Entertainer a few years ago.
*British
Radio Host Dies on the Air
=I don’t mean that metaphorically. How many people have you met in the radio business who said they want to do the job as long as they live? Well, this guy literally did that.
=I’m
reminded of the death of the great comedian Dick Shawn (LSD in “The
Producers”). He literally died on stage doing his comedy act. People thought it
was a joke.
*RIP
Laurie Kahn
=She was
the founder of the Media Staffing Network, which helped media people find new
jobs. Last Friday she passed away after a long bout with cancer. She wrote a blog about her struggle with the disease, which inspired many people.
*RIP Ken
Alexander
=The long-time Chicago radio veteran passed away this week at the age of 93.
Alexander worked in radio for more than 60 years. He is probably most
remembered for his time at WAIT (over twenty years), and WNIB (for 16 years).
He could most recently be heard on WDCB. Chuck Shayden and Steve Darnall
are doing a 4-hour tribute to Ken on Saturday November 5, beginning at 1pm.
MEDIA MILESTONES & BIRTHDAYS
*The
great sportscaster Jim Shorts celebrated his birthday on Halloween. (I've interviewed both Kevin--in English, and Jim in German, if you'd like to hear it.) Here’s a photo of Kevin Matthews with his star sportscaster, back in the
old Loop days.
*Former
Chicago television anchor Jane Pauley was also born on Halloween. She
obviously went on to bigger and better things, but she did a stint here locally
at WMAQ-TV, Channel 5.
*One last Halloween birthday. Program director Bill Gamble (Q-101, CD-94.7, et al) was also born on October 31. I interviewed him for Chicago Radio Spotlight back in 2009. He currently works for Midwest Family of Companies in South Bend, Indiana.
*Former
radio producer/host Tom Sochowski (WJMK, WCKG, ESPN, The Fish)
celebrated his birthday on November 1st. That’s Tom on the left with
John Landecker and me.
*Former
WGN & WLS newscaster Judy Pielach also has a November 1st
birthday.
*Alex Quigley, who worked at several radio stations in Chicago including Q-101, WGN, and The Game, was born on November 3rd. I interviewed Alex back in his WGN days (2010) for Chicago Radio Spotlight.
*The great Catherine Johns (WLS, WJMK) turned 70 yesterday. I only mention the age because she mentioned it in her great newsletter. I’ve interviewed Catherine several times over the years. The first time was 15 years ago.
*Another November 3rd birthday is former ESPN producer J.R. Straus. He and his brother were featured together for a piece I wrote in 2008.
*Producer Tom Hush (the Steve Cochran show/WLS
Radio) celebrates a birthday today (November 4th).
TV/STREAMING
*MeTV’s Holiday Plans
=Coming off a very successful
Halloween month of October, MeTV announced this week some of their plans for
the upcoming holiday season. Here’s a notable portion of the announcement: On Sunday, November 20, enjoy a heaping helping of
back-to-back Thanksgiving-themed episodes of classic TV favorites, including
what is widely considered one of the best Thanksgiving TV episodes ever, WKRP
in Cincinnati’s “Turkey’s Away.”
=Their Christmas plans include a
celebration of Charles Schultz’s 100th birthday (November
26), and a classic holiday marathon of sitcoms on November 27th
including The Beverly Hillbillies,
Gilligan’s Island, Green Acres, Mama’s Family, The Andy Griffith Show, Full
House and M*A*S*H.
*Marquee Network Ratings Are a Concern
=The Tribune did a long piece about the Marquee Network at the end of last week.
Worth a read if you missed it.
*Les Moonves settlement
=Lots of unsettling details in this story about the former CEO of CBS Les Moonves. He and CBS agreed to pay millions ($9.75 million settlement, another $14.5 million to shareholders) in the sexual misconduct case brought by the New York Attorney General. The details are disturbing. The LA Police called up Moonves to let him know a confidential complaint was filed against him, and an underling with knowledge of the situation sold millions in stock before the news came out. The article also says that Moonves only has to pay about $2.5 million of that settlement. He made $12.5 million the year he was forced out, down from his normal salary of $47 million.
*Chris Cuomo Wants a Better Timeslot
=He just recently joined NewsNation, but according to the New York Post (I know, I know), Cuomo is already not happy with his timeslot as the ratings struggle.
*Cable News Corner
=The Washington Post did a story this week about the meteoric rise of CNN morning show co-host Kaitlan Collins.
=Shep Smith’s
newscast was canceled by CNBC. His show was an attempt to do a non-partisan
newscast, but the ratings weren’t good. In a memo to his staff, CNBC’s
president wrote this: “‘The News’ set out on a bold mission of providing non-partisan,
fact-based reporting on the most important stories of the day in the U.S. and
around the world. The quality journalism Shep and his team delivered each
weeknight was exemplary and not lost on us or our 7 p.m. audience.”
*Streaming Corner
=YouTube has jumped into the streaming world with both feet. Among the
streamers you can now get through YouTube’s PrimeTime Channels service are Showtime, Starz, Paramount+, AMC+ and ViX+, with NBA
League Pass coming soon.
SOCIAL MEDIA
*FCC Recommends a TikTok Ban
=Shanghai-based
Byte-Dance owns TikTok, and the FCC claims that the Chinese company is damaging
American national security by sharing private information of Americans.
*Elon Musk’s Bumpy First Week
=First
he claimed he had no idea who the new CEO was. (It was him). Then he retweeted a bogus conspiracy theory
about the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, which he later had to delete
when he found out that same outlet he retweeted had once reported Hillary Clinton
was dead and replaced by a body double and that Bill Gates was
responsible for polio. Now he is faced with a mass exodus of advertisers who
fear the website has become or will become the hellscape he promised it would
never be. And this morning he laid off a large percentage of the staff…via e-mail. Not a great first week.
*Truth Social’s Influence Grows
=According to the New York Times the social media outlet is becoming more influential, even as it struggles mightily financially.
OTHER
MEDIA
*The Too-Muchness of Bono
=My wife and I recently traveled to Ireland and were
shocked to discover how unpopular Bono was in his home country. We heard the
same joke over and over again. “What is the difference between Bono & God?
God doesn’t think he’s Bono.” David Brooks tackled the “too-muchness” of Bono in this piece for the Atlantic.
=My podcast co-host (David Stern) and I interviewed Irish actress Amy Shiels (Twin Peaks) recently, and this Bono love-hate was one of the topics.
*An Open Letter to Hollywood from John Leguizamo
=The
famous Latino actor has drawn a line in the sand via the Los Angeles Times. He wrote this open letter to Hollywood to point out the inequities that still
exist for Latinos in the TV and movie industries.
* Judge blocks Simon & Schuster merger with Penguin/Random House
=As a Simon & Schuster author (The Radio Producer’s Handbook), I have this to say to the judge: Correct decision. Now do Amazon.
If you have any media stories (Chicago or
national) that you think I might like to share in future columns, feel free to
drop me a line at rick@eckhartzpress.com or amishrick@yahoo.com
